An Ali Review: The Well by Marie Sexton

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Twenty years after prom queen Cassie Kennedy is brutally murdered, six teenagers break into the house where she was killed to hold a séance. Haven knows his cousin Elise only wants to scare the crap out of him and his friends, but he’s willing to put up with one of her pranks if it means a chance to spend a few hours with the new kid in town, Pierce Hunter.

But when morning comes, Elise has disappeared without a trace.

Twelve years later, Pierce and his twin brother Jordan are professional paranormal investigators, starring in their own ghost-hunting TV show. When Pierce calls Haven, insisting they return to the supposedly haunted building one last time, Haven reluctantly agrees. He’s nervous about seeing Pierce again, but he’s determined to get some answers. Did they really speak to Cassie’s ghost that night? What happened to Elise? And the biggest mystery of all – how did she know the secret of the well?

I was immediately intrigued when I read the blurb for this book. I love a good mystery story and when you throw in a paranormal aspect I’m beyond excited. I wasn’t sure what to think though, of this type of book written by this author. Everything I’ve read of hers before has been a contemporary romance. I’m super excited to say that she knocked this out of the ballpark.

The story focused on Haven who is now a horror book author. When he was still a teen, he and his two cousins and some other friends, spend the night in a reportedly haunted house and then his cousin Elise disappears. Two of the boys are now paranormal investigators with a famous television show and they contact Haven and ask him to come meet with them in regards to doing a new show on the house and it’s mysteries. Haven can’t say no because he’s haunted by the question of what happened to Elise, as well as his feelings for Pierce.

The story is told in alternating chapters. It goes back and forth between the past and the present. The chapters from the past were spooky and I probably shouldn’t have been reading this late at night. Just when things would start to get scary it would move to the present. I thought it was a great story telling technique. It gave me a break from clutching my blanket and dog against me and it kept me totally intrigued. I couldn’t read fast enough to find out what really happened that night.

There is some romance between Haven and Pierce but it is not the main focus of the story. I enjoyed watching them together and felt the ending was a solid HFN.

If you enjoy stories with a paranormal twist I can’t recommend this enough. While it’s different than her norm, I think this is one of the best books this author has written.

Cover: I think the cover is well done and it fits the story perfectly. It gives off the creepy vibe that the book does.